Friday, June 21, 2013

Father's Day Submission #4 by Zyra

Let's just pretend that the EU wasn't so bad and everyone lived and it didn't take Jaina until she was nearly 40 to get married, ok?





When she turned to look at him, he could hardly believe his eyes. 

Han Solo was not often speechless, but as he gazed at the young woman in front of him, the one he had held in his arms moments after her birth on the day he became a father, words completely escaped him. 

She was dressed in an elegant yet simple white gown; a veil framing her face so that he could clearly see the elated twinkle in the brown eyes that so resembled her mother’s.  The smirk she gave him was not unlike his own, slightly crooked as one side of her mouth curled up a bit higher than the other.  His Jaina, his only daughter, was about to get married.

After a few moments of staring, Jaina broke the silence.  “So, Dad, how do I look?”

He took a few steps closer and looked her up and down, wondering how in the universe his baby had grown up so fast.  “You look beautiful, little princess.”

“Little princess?  You haven’t called me that one in a while.”

Han shrugged.  “I thought I’d get one more in before my little girl gets married and isn’t mine anymore.”

Smiling, Jaina took a few steps forward and reached out to take her father’s hand.  “I’ll always be your little girl, Daddy.”

Even dressed as she was Han couldn’t help but hear those words as though she was speaking them as a small child.  “You better mean that.  You know, when you turned five I told you that you were growing up too fast, and you promised you’d never leave me.”

They were merely words.  Han wasn’t sure he’d ever seen his daughter look so radiantly happy as she was now getting ready to start a new life with her soon-to-be husband, and he also knew in his heart that she would always remain a big part of his life.  But the wedding seemed to add a sense of finality to the time in his life that Jaina would come to him first.  Suddenly he was accosted with images of his little girl seeking him out to fix her hurts, leaping into his arms for a hug, asking him to read her another story, climbing onto the couch to sit next to him and watch a smashball game – not because she cared about the sport, but simply because she liked spending time with him.  He’d helped teach her to read, to fly the Falcon, and how to deter young males from getting too close to her – although eventually that last bit of advice had fallen by the wayside.  His baby was all grown up and there was nothing he could do about it. 

“I’m not leaving you, Dad.  I’ll always need you.”

Closing the small bit of distance left between them, Han pulled Jaina slowly into a gentle hug.  In spite of the potential for wrinkling her dress, she wrapped her arms around him and squeezed him tightly.  “I love you,” she said, her voice slightly muffled against his chest. 

He leaned down and gently kissed her forehead.  “I love you, too.”

After a few more moments, he pulled away and took one last look at his daughter, taking a moment to wipe away the tears that threatened to fall.  She smiled at him again and said, “Don’t worry, I won’t tell anyone,” and winked. 

He laughed and moved to stand at her side, holding his arm out for her to take.  “You ready, sweetie?”

Her arm hooked into his and she took a step forward, taking a deep breath.  “I think so.  Are you?”

“As ready as I’ll ever be,” Han said, knowing very well that nothing could’ve prepared him for watching his children grow up so fast.  But as the doors opened to the vast hall with thousands of guests, he somehow immediately was able to pick out the other set of beautiful brown eyes he so loved looking into.  Leia, his wife of thirty years, smiled at him just as she had on the day he had married her, reminding him that he wasn’t losing everything that day.  And he saw the groom, looking at Jaina in such a way that Han knew he would take care of her. 

If not, he looked over to his sons, who would protect their sister just as fiercely as Han would.  Although he knew that his daughter was smart enough to choose a worthy husband, even if Han didn’t believe any man in the galaxy had ever been created that was truly worthy of marrying his only daughter. 

But if he made her happy, that was all he cared about. 

16 comments:

  1. Zyra, I've made the decision to only take the bare minimum from the EU (like the kids' names).

    This is a beautiful story, and here's a father who loves his daughter so very, very much. You've conveyed that wonderfully. It's true that she's moving to a new phase of her life, and that takes time and energy to develop, but she loves her daddy just as he loves her and will always make time for him.

    My daughter eloped (to the worst man in the universe, but that's another story). I know that when she marries again, her father will insist on walking her down the aisle. She and he are very much alike, and I think that will be emotional for him.

    Jaina has always been Daddy's Little Angel. And she always will be.

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  2. Awww this is adorable, and very touching. You captured Han's fears of losing his little girl just perfectly, as well as showing us the close bond that they share. Perfect for Fathers Day.

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  3. I like how you threw out the EU. Works for me. :)

    This was really sweet. No doubt Han and the boys would be protective of Jaina. And nice look at the bond between Han and his daughter. Hmmm, but I wonder who the groom is? Very curious about that.

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    1. I left the groom ambiguous because I don't really care :)

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    2. Gotcha on the groom. I wondered.

      It seems like it has. :( That's unfortunate because it is a sweet story. Where has everybody gone?

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  4. Hmmm... this story seems to have killed the blog.

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  5. Not at all. I just got to Florida about two hours ago. Will spend the next week trying to make sure that adding a keyboard player (and a second guitarist) to my brother's band is going to work out. I have two keyboards and I'd forgotten how awful it was to travel with them, but play someone else's musical instruments is like using someone else's toothbrush.

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    1. We are playing at my niece's wedding next Saturday. I'm fortunate in that I only have to do 16 songs vs. the 48 the rest of the band is doing. I'm doing backing vocals on a number of them. There were a couple my brother wanted me to try doing lead on but I don't have a strong voice and I am absolutely not a lead singer.

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  6. I'm still here! I've enjoyed reaading everyone's Father's Day stories, but maybe because this is something I do to escape RL, I don't have as much to say about RL-type topics like Father's Day.

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    1. Ok, but the prompt could've just as easily been "Write us something that highlights Han being a dad" rather than throwing the Father's Day part into it. I don't really know why that makes it too real life. If you just don't have anything to say, that's understandable, though.

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    2. I'll read RL stuff every time. I'm sure Han and Leia's real life is way more interesting than mine. :)

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    3. Heck, if someone wrote Han and Leia watching paint dry I'm sure I'd love it, and you can't get much more boring RL than that.

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    4. Han and Leia might get bored watching paint dry but then end up getting down and dirty instead. Or maybe even painting each other. But that's what you do when you have a scoundrel around. ;)

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    5. Having thought about it little more, I realize it's not father's day in particular, but all domesticity. I'm not working right now, and raising young kids and having a good marriage is really my major focus right now. So I think my fictional need right now is for something separate from anything that reminds me of my life!

      That said, this is the end of week three of my husband being away for 4 weeks, and the story I'm currently working on involves Han and Leia learning how to relate to one another again after a long absence... Though I doubt the way they will learn to "relate" to each other will resemble RL much :-)

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  7. Ok... I've started a new job, have a spouse who's been travelling (and you juggle 3 active teens with full time performing schedules and only one driver) so no internet for me till this week. THANK G*D the choir schedule is OVER till 7/29!!!

    Anyway... I am finally caught up on fics and posts. Have to say I love this one. Nice father moment. Captures what I'm sure many father's feel at their daughter's wedding but isn't over the top mushy.

    I despise much of the EU so I'm glad to see it dumped here.
    Nice job Zyra!

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  8. This was sweet. :-) I loved when he called her "little Princess" and nice to see something different than the EU for H/L's children.

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